Pink Knotweed is not easily confused with other wild plants on this web site.

Originally from the Himalayas, this little plant is a recent introduction into Ireland. It is an extremely pretty little sprawling, creeping, glandular-hairy perennial plant with round, dense, terminal heads of tiny, pale-pink, 5-tepalled flowers (1mm)on branching brownish-red stems which only grow to about 50cm. The distinctive leaves are ovate-elliptic with central red stems and they each have a dark-red or brown chevron across the centre. The veins are also red and plainly marked. It is clearly not a native plant and is a member of the Polygonaceae or Knotweed family. It flowers from May to August.

I first saw this plant growing along pavements and gutters in Newport, Co Mayo in July 2014 when I also photographed it. I think it may have escaped from window-boxes and was doing extremely well in spreading itself.

Also known as Pink-headed Persicaria, this garden escape is not thought to be totally frost-hardy and therefore may not overwinter.However, it is known to be a species which grows vigorously and with little or no maintainance it can survive and get out of hand all too quickly, given the right conditions. It would be a shame if it were to be a future ‘invasive species’.